Parents Play a Vital Role at Eagle Rock

Parents (including guardians and sponsors) play a vital role in the success of each and every Eagle Rock School student. Here, in today’s blog post, we’re going to share some practical suggestions — along with a few expectations — intended to open lines of communication between parents, students and the Eagle Rock staff.

For starters, believe us when we say we’re fully aware there will be disagreements, conflicts, and emotional confrontations — i.e., drama — from time to time. We’re not behavioral experts, but we’ve been doing this for a long time. And we’ve been doing it quite successfully.

So when, for example, our director of students suggests that we’ll promise to believe only half of what your child tells us about you, if you promise to believe only half of what your child tells you about us, it’s only half in jest. We have a vested interest in your child’s success and your participation in that success.

And at the top of our priorities for parents is an expectation that you will keep up to date with your child’s experience — providing emotional support and asking us questions or presenting concerns as soon as they arise. This is especially important when there are cultural, religious or medical needs that you feel are not being addressed.

Next, we expect you to be familiar with our 8 themes, 5 expectation, and 10 commitments, and that at Eagle Rock, 8+5=10. (Learn more by reading up on the Eagle Rock Mission and Philosophy.) We’d like to see all our parents, guardians and sponsors work in collaboration with us, maintaining open lines of communication, acting out of mutual respect, sharing our common vision of the expectations and values of our unique and intentional community.

In addition to taking care of the medical/financial/transportation needs of students, we like for parents to commit to providing a safe and connecting place for students to go during breaks from school that includes an environment that supports the continuing efforts of Eagle Rock and provides attitudes and habits that allow students to continue to thrive.

Obviously, we hope parents celebrate their child and share success stories with the Eagle Rock community and other potential students.

And perhaps most important, we want you to know that you are welcome to visit us any time you like. Let us say that again: You are welcome here. We’re not a closed campus and we love it when parents come to visit. You don’t need our permission and, more important, you don’t need your child’s permission to come on campus. We simply ask that you let us know about your visit ahead of time.

Having said that, we might suggest you not pinch your student’s cheeks on the way out the door, regardless of how proud they make you. That’s still just as embarrassing as when your parents did that to you back in your high school days.

Eagle Rock – a non-profit initiative of the American Honda Motor Company – is both a school for high school age students and a professional development center for educators. The school is a year-round, residential, and full-scholarship school that enrolls young people ages 15-17 from around the United States in an innovative learning program with national recognition. The Professional Development Center works with educators from around the country who wish to study how to re-engage, retain and graduate students. The center provides consulting services at school sites and host educators who study and learn from Eagle Rock practices. For more information please visit www.eaglerockschool.org and check us out on Twitter @eaglerockschool and on Facebook at facebook.com/EagleRockSchool.